A Brilliant Idea
by Serenitychan13
Summary: The story of how Midori and Souzou met. Treeclimbing, bathpeeping and teenage boy idiocy abound! Romance... Well, sort of depends on what you consider romantic... Newly Edited.


A Brilliant Idea

By: Serenity-chan

_'All that long brown hair... Beautiful violet eyes... She's so pretty- - -'_

"Ow!" complained the lanky sixteen-year-old, rubbing the place where his best friend had whacked him on the head. "Reichi, what was that for!?"

Reichi rolled his eyes.

"Just go talk to her!" he replied exasperatedly. "You're driving me nuts! Souzou, do you have any idea how ANNOYING it is to say something to somebody, then find them totally spaced out!?"

"I can't talk to her!" exclaimed Souzou, his face turning bright red. "She'll just look at me like I'm a moron or something!"

"The way you're acting right now, she'd be right," quipped Reichi.

"But---" Souzou started.

"You're blushing," Reichi pointed out, cutting off the oncoming rant.

Souzou's face darkened and his ears turned pink.

"Oh shut up," he growled through clenched teeth, now extremely flustered.

Reichi just laughed - he loved watching his best friend visibly squirming in embarrassment, considering it usually wasn't this easy to get him so. He heard a loud _GERK _sound behind him and turned around to find that Touya had Souzou locked in a stranglehold from behind. Souzou - understandably unhappy with this arrangement - was struggling like mad, but he couldn't get too far with one arm twisted behind his back. Finally, he caught Touya in the ribs with his free arm, digging the point of his elbow into the other boy's chest. Reichi winced at hearing bone connecting with bone - he knew from his own sparring sessions that Souzou had the sharpest elbows of anyone he'd ever met. Prying Touya's arm away from his neck, Souzou turned and took a few playful swings at him. Right as he was about to turn around, the attack forgiven, something hard swung into his side from seemingly out of nowhere.

"Yow!" he yelped, one hand pressed to his side. "What the hell!?"

He turned around all the way to see the fourth member of their little crew, Kyo, standing behind him, a sheepish grin plastered on his face. The fourteen-year-old had a thing for swords that went above and beyond a normal affinity and had managed to abscond with a bokken. Nobody really knew where from - nor did they feel it wise to try and find out - but the general concensus view was that there was probably still a pissed-off kendo instructor somewhere. It was old, scuffed in a few places from being dropped, and sort of dented, but it still hurt like hell to get hit with it. Kyo quickly tried to hide his treasured bokken behind his back.

"Sorry 'bout that, Souzou," he said, laughing nervously. "I was aiming for Touya!"

"Hey!" yelped Touya in indignation.

Reichi smacked his forehead down in his palm.

"Kyo, I have something to tell you," said Souzou, his voice deadly calm.

"Heh... What is it?" asked Kyo warily.

The older boy squinched his eyes shut for a moment, then opened them to glare at the younger.

"I'm going to kill you," growled Souzou.

Kyo let out a wild yell as he turned tail and ran off as fast as he possibly could - he knew his friend wouldn't actually _kill_ him, but whatever consequences were coming were not going to be pleasant. Souzou wasn't far behind him, being slightly taller and having longer legs gave him a great advantage. Realizing he couldn't get far out in the open, Kyo cut around behind a house, earning a good loud scolding from the lady of the house. With another yell, he dashed off into the woods behind the aforementioned residence, still able to hear the woman threatening to bean him a good one. Finally, panting from the exertion of the chase, Reichi managed to get Souzou by the back of his shirt and yank him back. Lowering his voice conspiritorially, he caught his best friend's attention.

"I'd be quiet going in there if I were you," he whispered.

"Why?" asked Souzou, confused, a little suspicious and eager to get in after Kyo.

"Because if you're loud, she'll leave, idiot!" hissed Reichi.

Souzou shook his head, more confused than ever and now on his guard.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded. "Who's 'she'?"

"Midori," replied Reichi, grinning wickedly - he watched the tips of his best friend's ears turn red again, and not just from all the running of earlier. "Yumihiko is friends with her best friend's little brother. Apparently, Midori and Nanaka go swimming back there sometimes---"

Souzou frowned - something didn't quite seem kosher here.

"I still don't see why---" he started.

"Naked," finished Reichi, his grin even wicked-er than it had been before - yes _wicked-er_.

"Ugh," groaned Souzou, trying to curb the heavy flow of blood that had just begun to sally forth from his nostrils.

"And from the weather and what Yumihiko was saying," Reichi continued, his cocoa-brown eyes glittering mischeivously as he gestured theatrically at the idyllic scene of smooth blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and tall green trees. "The two of them are there right now... This is your chance."

"WHAT!?!" hollered Souzou, his nose exploding rather violently in a tidal wave of red.

"You want to see her, right?" persisted Reichi, holding Souzou off at arm's length due to Souzou's near-hemorrhagic nosebleed - the other boy was getting visibly pale. "Just go and get up in a tree or something!"

"Dat is todawwy 'vucked up," croaked Souzou, choking on his own blood as he attempted to pinch his nose shut with his fingers. "She'd t'ink I'b a bajor bervert..."

Reichi just laughed and shook his head, scrunching his nose up in disgust at the blood now encrusting on his best friend's shirt front.

"Just try it," he insisted, giving said best friend a light shove. "It'll help you work up the nerve to talk to her!"

Reluctantly (sort of), Souzou agreed and Reichi half-dragged him away.

"You sure this'll work?" asked Souzou, nerves killing his nosebleed - he wiped his face with the back of his hand and wiped that hand on his pants.

"Just keep quiet!" hissed Reichi, still tugging the raven-haired youth through the brush. "If she sees you, just say you didn't know!"

"If this goes wrong," growled Souzou, giving his best friend a deadly glare that was somewhat nullified by his now-pallid complexion and the dried blood in his nostrils. "I'm going to strangle you..."

"You do that," muttered Reichi as she shook his head. "I'd like to see you try it."

With an utterance of "Well, here we are," Reichi dropped his hold on Souzou's sleeve, winked at his best friend, and then turned and left. Souzou could feel his heart pounding and knew his ears were totally red - was that another nosebleed he could feel coming on? Taking a deep breath to steady himself - he wasn't sure he could stay conscious through another nasal explosion - he started pulling himself up a large tree. The tree looked insanely old and its thick, low-hanging branches definitely looked sturdy enough to hold his weight. Blushing fiercely and trying to hush his breathing, he settled flat on his stomach on one of thickest branches. He figured he was about ten feet up, so there was probably no chance that the girl was going to look up there unless he created some kind of noise. Setting his chin on his hands, he looked down from the cover of the leaves, still trying to keep his breath quiet as he waited.

He certainly wasn't waiting for very long - his ears perked up as he heard someone moving around out in the brush and he prayed it wasn't just one of his friends playing a joke on him. Soon, a slim-built fifteen-year-old girl with long auburn hair pushed her way through a 'fence' of thick bushes. Her hair was in one braid pinned up at the top of head, her fine bangs frizzled into ringlet curls by the slight humidity of the day. The graceful curve of her neck was emphasized by the practical style - it was probably unintentional, but it drew her silent observer's attention anyway. A light pink yukata with darker pink sakura blossoms complemented her fair olive skin. As slender hands came up to untie the narrow sash, Souzou's jaw dropped.

'Holy SHIT!!' he thought, trying to force back another nosebleed - losing consciousness right now would mean a ten-foot drop into ice-cold water.

In the last bit of his mind that thought decently, he knew he should have averted his eyes and given up right then, but somehow he was unable to tear his gaze away. The pretty silk robe slipped off Midori's shoulders and she caught it before it fluttered to the ground - her reflexes were good for a woman, he thought insanely. After folding it carefully and setting it on a rock, she stepped into the water and waded out to waist-deep. Expectedly, Souzou's focus fell instantly on her breasts, on the twin rose-colored buds hardening in the coolness of spring. Letting the basest bits of his mind have the reins, he let out a silent sigh as his eyes roved shamelessly over her body. Slowly, his gaze traveled down her curves, stopping momentarily at the apex of her thighs. She was totally smooth, the soft skin down there bared to his hungry eyes.

"Oh my fuckin' God!!!" whispered Souzou. "You're perfect, baby..."

"Huh?" Midori perked up and looked around, her head tilted to the side.

'Damn it! I said that out loud!' thought Souzou, holding his breath and continuing to curse himself mentally.

When he relaxed and let his breath out, satisfied that she hadn't heard him, the branch gave a little - a great big 'Oh _shit_!' flag went up in his head. With plentiful expletives echoing around in his head, Souzou was instantly motionless, gripping that branch for all he was worth. After a tense moment, only a single leaf fell. Another few anxious seconds, he could breathe almost normally again and he relaxed. Steadying himself through a couple of breath exercises, he laid one arm flat on the branch and then laid his head on his arm. It was so peaceful lying there listening to the water and Midori's soft singing - she sounded like an angel and Souzou thought she looked like one too. He watched her leaning forward and letting the little waterfall stream over her shoulders. In that moment, Souzou could have died right then and been perfectly happy - as a matter of fact, he felt like he was already in heaven.

"Just like a goddess..." he whispered, feeling like he was half-asleep.

The branch he was laying on gave a little more - this time making a great loud _CREAK_ sound and jarring him almost violently. Souzou let out a strangled-sounding gasp blended with a yell of surprise and shot out an arm, flailing around grabbing wildly for another branch. Well, this was where he made his big mistake - and he realized this just as it was happening and once more every swear word he knew _ping_ed around in his skull like pinballs. The sudden shift of weight threw Souzou off-balance and put too much stress on the old branch. It gave another great _CREAK_, lurched down a little, stopped for a second, then fell with a _CRACK_ like a gunshot.

'I'm a dead man...' thought Souzou in desperation.

A shocked and frightened Midori screamed like a banshee and a terrified Souzou landed flat on his back in the water, thrashing like mad. The branch that had caused the whole scene splintered when it fell on a sharp boulder, immediately put out of its misery. As soon as Midori stopped screaming and realized what had happened, she froze and tried to cover herself with her arms, blushing in embarrassment and anger. Realizing he was still alive, Souzou surfaced, coughing and choking, with his hair falling over his eyes. He looked up through his bangs and his gaze found a pair of violet eyes glinting with anger - Midori snapped.

"You PERVERT!!!" she screeched, startling birds from out of the trees. "What the HELL do you think you're doing!?!"

Souzou felt his face getting hot - it was as if he had come down with a sudden fever - and turned bright red to the very tips of his ears. Still sputtering and coughing, his body trying to expel the water that was currently burning the hell out of his lungs, he covered his eyes with his arm. It was at this point that he realized the water was crystal-clear, so there was no point in trying to get away. All he could really do now was try and choke out coherent speech - maybe he could explain himself and she would forgive him. Okay, so that was a long shot - he should probably just hope she didn't have a father, brothers, uncles, cousins or other male relatives within a ten-mile radius.

"I- I'm s-s-sorry," he stammered, not just shaking because of the cold shock of the water. "I- I- I-..."

"Save your breath," snapped Midori, holding up a hand and cutting him off. "Just tell me who you are."

Souzou swallowed hard, his shoulders falling in defeat - she probably just wanted a name so that the aforementioned male relatives would know who to send the torches and pitchforks after.

"Sagara Souzou ," he said tonelessly, closing his eyes and pushing his drenched bangs out of his face in a gesture of habit - he blushed again as this cleared his vision and he got another good look at her. "I know you probably don't want to tell me, but may I ask your name?"

The auburn-haired girl with the fire in her cheeks looked down at the young man who was now cowering in the pond looking like a drenched puppy - he was kind of cute...

"It's Saginuma Midori ," she said briskly, her face turning a bit brighter. "Saginuma-san to you. And I'll be leaving now. Turn around."

Souzou bowed his head, his cheeks burning hot as if she had slapped him - to be honest, it probably would have been easier on him if she had. Violent anger would be easier to deal with than the cool briskness she was now treating him with - at least violent anger had the chance to blow over. Maybe if she had been violent now, he thought in obtuse optimism, she would have forgiven him later. With his head hung, he turned around - he was totally ashamed of himself, pretty sure he had completely ruined any chance he might have possibly ever had with her. Midori splashed out of the water, dressed quickly and stormed away.

Souzou felt like there was a lead weight where his heart was.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day, by the time the sun was filtering unavoidably through the _shoji_ windows of his room, Souzou could barely drag himself out of bed and he had no desire to. A quick look around told him it was now about noon - he had overslept royally and his father was bellowing at him from somewhere out in the yard. With no desire to help with yard work, the young man known as Sagara Souzou dressed quickly and sneaked out the side door of the kitchen, placing his finger over his lips to signal to his five-about-to-be-six-year-old sister Reika know to keep quiet about his disappearance. The little girl returned the gesture and went back to her lunch, smiling secretively to herself. Souzou grinned back and knew he could count on her to keep a secret for him - he knew the guy who ran the caricature stand and went to hang around over there. It was noisy around there, but there was a narrow alley around the back that was fairly out of the way. He just wanted to be left alone today, so, shoving his hands in his pockets, he took the long way.

'Oh shit,' he thought, stopping where he was.

There was Midori right in front of him. She was standing right there in the middle of the street that made the most of his back-way route. With Reichi. They were talking. That dirty skunk. He had to have brought her there. Seeing as Souzou had blown it, maybe _they_ were together now... Frowning deeply, Souzou figured he was really in for it now. Midori had probably hunted down Reichi so that she could find Souzou and this time _really_ tell him off - possibly in the middle of the public street. His luck took a turn for the worse when Midori turned around and their eyes met. Blushing bright red right down to the roots of his silky black hair, he turned and ran...

... Straight into a wall - his head made hard contact with the support beam on the corner of a clothing shop and he saw brilliant stars. Somewhere off to the side, vaguely, he heard Reichi's voice yelling "Good luck!" and the sound of his best friend taking off running. _Coward... Traitor..._ Souzou thought blearily - he probably had a concussion, he realized somewhere in the back of his mind. Shaking his head and feeling his heart pounding, figuring he should do what his dad always said and walk it off, he tried to pick himself up. It was painful, but he eventually managed to sit up - his head was still swimming and his vision was black around the edges at first. To his surprise, when the smoky edges cleared a way, he could see that a slender hand was extended to help him up.

"Are you alright?" asked a painfully familiar voice - a light, musical, painfully _female_ voice.

Blinking painfully and shaking his head some, not to say 'no' but to clear it, Souzou took hold of the offered hand and looked up at the face of its owner. Sure enough, just as he feared, it was Midori and her face was grim - the light was gone from her violet eyes. Slowly, as Midori did most of the pulling, Souzou got to his feet, still shaking his head and wondering if he should just try and run again. He couldn't look at her, just pressed a hand to his head, covering his right eye - which had almost made contact with the support beam - and winced in pain, part of it real and part of it theatrical. His eyes were carefully trained on the ground.

"I really am sorry---" he started off quietly.

"I didn't come to hear an apology," Midori cut in, once more cutting him off with a hand held up. "I just want to know why you did it. Can you tell me that?"

With his head still bowed in embarrassment and shame, Souzou raised his eyes to Midori's face, squinching his right eye shut as it hurt to keep it open.

"Because you're beautiful," he said without thinking - it had to be the concussion talking.

"What!?" gasped Midori, her voice soft - almost disbelieving.

Swallowing hard, the boy spoke again, his voice getting stronger - clearly, concussed or not, he believed every word he was saying.

"And because I was too stupid just to work up the nerve to talk to you," continued Souzou, his dark brown eyes shining apologetically. "That's really all I wanted..."

Midori tilted her head at him, confused - Souzou halfway grinned, the expression striking him as adorable.

"Did you hit your head too hard or something?!" she demanded.

Souzou gave a bitter bark of a laugh and shook his head dismissively, making his wild black hair flap around over his eyes and tickle his ears. Still chuckling mirthlessly, he stuck his hands in his pockets, wincing as he audibly ripped a hole in the left one with the force of his motion, and turned to leave. He didn't get but about a yard away before he stopped short and looked back over his shoulder. Sad brown eyes, one of them already forming a spectacular shiner that made him look like someone had decked him, looked deep into sparkling violet.

"Probably... And I know you probably never want to see me again," he said, his voice sad and hollow. "But I still think you're beautiful... Like an angel."

He gave her a faint smile, the expression not quite reacing his eyes, then turned and started down the alley - the girl watched him leaving and only let him get about fifteen feet away.

"Wait!" Midori said quickly, a faint note of begging in her voice.

Souzou stopped and turned halfway around, a glimmer of hope shining in his dark eyes.

"Well I'm still not exactly happy with you spying on me like that," Midori continued, sounding like she was trying to choose her words carefully - she couldn't just let him get away with it, after all. "But I don't think anyone has ever said anything so sweet to me before. I guess... even if you are a pervert... You can't be all bad..."

Souzou smiled, his eyes - even the now-blackened one - fully lit up with hope, and Midori felt her heart melting.

"W-would you like to meet somewhere tomorrow?" Souzou asked shyly, blushing again as he looked at her from behind the fringe of his bangs. "Maybe start over, like none of this mess ever happened. Not that I'm complaining about what I saw..."

He gave her a naughty wink - it was easier to wink with the shiner, considering it wouldn't stay open that long anyway - and grinned at her, tilting his head to the side. Midori blushed, let out an "_Oh!_" in mock-frustration, and smacked his shoulder lightly, avoiding the one that had taken the impact. Souzou just rolled his eyes as best he could and raised an eyebrow at her - the left one, since he still had muscle control there. His great big eyes were still shy - like a reprimanded puppy, almost negating the naughtiness of the wink.

"So what do you say?" he asked almost-timidly, smiling at Midori's flushed cheeks and feeling that he was blushing a little himself.

"I say yes," she said sweetly - then she smiled at him just as devilishly. "But not about starting over. I don't intend on ever letting you forget that!"

Souzou just laughed, the sound rumbling through his body and shaking him right down to his shoulders as he pressed a hand to his marvelously blackened right eye. In that moment, it was almost as if he knew what kinds of things the next few years would bring. In a second, he caught his lower lip in his teeth for a long moment, as if indecisive about something - Midori looked up at him with her head tilted to the side and her violet eyes sparkling merrily. After a moment, he tentatively leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, blushing sweetly as he did so. As the two of them parted ways with the promise of meeting at the sushi stall on the third corner, the young Sagara Souzou let himself get out of Midori's earshot. As soon as he was, he leaped into the air and let out a whoop of joy.


End file.
